Device for subcutaneous administration of a medicament to a patient and tubing for same

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a device for subcutaneous administration of a medicament to a patient, comprising a cannula housing ( 1 ) with an interior chamber; a cannula ( 2 ) connected to the cannula housing ( 1 ) and being in flow communication with the interior chamber; a tubing ( 4 ) manufactured from a flexible material and having a first end ( 4 ′), coupled to the cannula housing ( 1 ) in such a manner that the tubing ( 4 ) is in flow communication with the interior chamber; and wherein the tubing ( 4 ), at the other end, carries a source coupling ( 5 ), by which the tubing can be coupled to a source for said medicament. The invention is characterised in that, at least over a section of its length, the tubing comprises a longitudinally extending, external groove ( 12 ) and a longitudinally extending, external protrusion ( 11 ) arranged diametrically opposite the groove ( 12 ) and complementary with said groove ( 12 ); and that, using the flexibility of its material, the groove ( 12 ) is configured for being able to receive and secure the protrusion ( 11 ) in a releasable manner in a configuration of the tubing ( 4 ), in which the tubing ( 4 ) is folded ( 9 ) for forming parallel courses of tubing ( 14, 24, 34 ). The invention also relates to a tubing configured for use in said device.

The present invention relates to a device for subcutaneousadministration of a medicament to a patient, comprising a cannulahousing with an interior chamber, a cannula connected to said cannulahousing and in flow communication with the interior chamber, and atubing manufactured from a flexible material and having a first end anda second end, wherein the tubing is, at its first end, coupled to thecannula housing such that the tubing is in flow communication with theinterior chamber, and wherein, at its second end, the tubing carries asource coupling by which the tubing can be coupled to a source for saidmedicament.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,803, being now as a reference deemed to constitute apart of the present text, shows in FIGS. 1 and 2 a cannula housing to beadhered to the skin of the patient, so as to enable continuousadministration of a drug to the patient via a plastics needle introducedinto the skin of the patient. At its one end a tubing features a sourcecoupling by which the tubing can be coupled to a source, such as a pump,thereby enabling the drug to be fed to the cannula housing through thetubing. At its other end, the tubing has a coupling that is releasablysecured to the cannula housing, whereby the tubing can be released fromthe cannula housing, eg when the patient is in the bath.

In some situations, eg when the patient is asleep it is necessary tohave a relatively long distance between the cannula housing and thesource of the drug to enable the source of drug to sit on a table nextto the patient. Thus there is a need for a comparatively long tubing, ega tubing having a length of about 1.1 m. Conversely, a short tubing istypically desired when the patient is up and about, ie when the sourceof drug is carried by the patient, eg in a pocket in his clothes. Toovercome this problem, it is an option to change tubing as day turnsinto night. This, however, may lead to waste of the usually veryexpensive medicament located in the long tubing.

It is previously been attempted to solve this problem by providing thesource of drug with a winder mechanism for the tubing, see internationalpatent application No. WO 96/35472. The winder mechanism describedtherein, however, cannot be manufactured at low costs and there is arisk of the winder mechanism getting stuck.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a device forsubcutaneous administration of a drug to a patient that can be bemanufactured at low costs and that enables variations in the distancebetween the source of drug and the cannula housing without using acomplex mechanism.

This is accomplished in the tubing having, at least in a section of itslength, a longitudinally extending external groove and a longitudinallyextending external protrusion complementary therewith and arrangeddiametrically opposite the groove, and wherein the groove is configuredfor using the flexibility of the material for receiving and securing theprotrusion in a releasable manner in a configuration of the tubing inwhich the tubing is folded for forming parallel courses of the tubing.

Alternatively it is an option to provide, within the scope of theinvention, a holder device for securing the tubing in a configuration inwhich the tubing is folded for forming at least two parallel courses oftubing, the holder device comprising a plate with at least two parallelgrooves configured for being able to receive and secure the tubing in areleasable manner in said configuration.

The invention also relates to a flexible extruded tubing suitable forestablishing a configuration of the tubing in which the tubing is foldedfor forming parallel, adjacently arranged courses of tubing, preferablyfor use in connection with a device for subcutaneous supply of amedicament, wherein the tubing has, at least over a section of itslength, a longitudinally extending, external groove and a longitudinallyextending, external protrusion complementary therewith and arrangeddiametrically opposite the groove, said groove being configured forutilising the flexibility of the tubing for being able to receive andsecure the protrusion in a releasable manner in said configuration ofthe tubing.

In the present context, the term “parallel courses of tubing” isintended to designate one or two length(s) of the tubing thathas/have—apart from the folding area—courses that are mutually paralleland situated closely to each other. It will be understood that the usermay freely choose to provide either a relatively large number of foldswith a correspondingly large number of short courses of tubing or fewfolds with few relatively long courses of tubing. Also, the term“folded” is intended to designate a state in which the tubing continuesto be able to convey medicament from the one end of the tubing to theother.

The invention will now be explained in further detail with reference tothe drawing.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a number of the elements used forsubcutaneous administration of a medicament to a patient;

FIG. 2 shows the device shown in FIG. 1, wherein the tubing has beencaused to assume a folded configuration with three parallel courses oftubing;

FIG. 3 schematically shows an embodiment in which the tubing shown inFIG. 2 has complementary grooves and protrusions and wherein the coursesof the tubings are interconnected; and

FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment, wherein the tubing shown in FIG.1 has an ordinary, circular cross section and is mounted on a plate forsecuring the tubing in a folded configuration.

FIG. 1 shows a part of a flexible tubing 4 having a first end 4′ and asecond end 4″. At its first end 4′ the tubing 4 is provided with acoupling 3 configured for being, in a releasable manner, able to besecured to a cannula housing 1. The cannula housing 1 has an interiorchamber that communicates with the tubing 4 and with a cannula 2 thatprotrudes from the cannula housing 1, said cannula preferably beingflexible and of plastics and intended for being introduced through thesurface of the skin of a patient by means of a not shown introductionneedle. The interior chamber is not shown, but its configuration maylike the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,803.

A source coupling 5 secured to the second end 4″ of the tubing 4 makesit possible to releasably couple the tubing to a source for a drug. Theterm ‘source’ in this context is intended to designate a receptacle forthe drug, since, between the receptacle and the coupling 5, a pump ispreferably introduced that supplies the drug to the patient via thetubing 4 in a predetermined dosage. The source coupling 5 is configuredfor being able to co-operate with a complementary coupling on said drugreceptacle or on a tubing connected to the receptacle or pump.Preferably the tubing is made of a plastics material and has suchproperties that, to a wide extent, the tubing 4 is able to prevent alocal occlusion of the flow of the drug if the tubing 4 is foldedsharply.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration in which the tubing shown in FIG. 1 is benttwice, whereby three parallel courses for the tubing is provided, thetwo of which are indicated by numerals 14 and 24.

According to a first embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 3 aand 3 b, the tubing shown in FIG. 2 is provided with a longitudinallyextending protrusion 11 and a longitudinally extending groove 12. Theprotrusion 11 and the groove 12 preferably extend from the first end 4′of the tubing 4 to the second end 4″ of the tubing 4, the tubing 4 beingpreferably manufactured by extrusion. The groove 12 is complementarywith the protrusion 11, by which is to be understood that the protrusion11 can be received in the groove 12 and secured in the groove in areleasable manner by using the flexibility/elasticity of the material.This is preferably acquired as shown in FIG. 3 a by the protrusion beingdovetail-shaped and by the mouthing of the groove 12 expanding slightlywhen the protrusion 11 is introduced, following which the mouthing ofthe groove 12 again contracts slightly, thereby securing that theprotrusion 11 is secured in the groove 12. As shown in FIG. 3 b, thegroove 12 and the protrusion 11 can be configured for providing afriction force that secures the protrusion 11.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, as shown inFIG. 4 a, a holder device 10 can be mounted in the form of a sheetelement on the tubing 4 for securing the tubing 4 in a folded state,whereby a controlled configuration is provided with eg five courses oftubing 14, 24, 34 extending in parallel with each other. The tubing 4has a usual round cross section, and the holder device 10 haslongitudinally extending, parallel grooves 12 of width correspondingapproximately to the diameter of the tubing 4, such that the tubing canbe received and secured in the groove 12 following introduction into thegroove 12. During this introduction the elasticity of the material canoptionally be useful, as the groove 12 may expand slightly. The holderdevice 10 with the tubing 4 is shown in FIG. 4 b, seen from above, andthe holder device may comprise means, such as a belt, by which theholder device 10 can be secured to the patient, as shown in FIG. 4 c.

1. A device for subcutaneous administration of a medicament to apatient, comprising: a cannula housing (1) with an interior chamber; acannula (2) connected to the cannula housing (1) and being in flowcommunication with the interior chamber; a tubing (4) manufactured froma flexible material and having a first end (4′) and a second end (4″),wherein the tubing (4) is, at the first end (4′), coupled to the cannulahousing (1) in such a manner that the tubing (4) is in flowcommunication with the interior chamber; and wherein the tubing (4), atthe other end, carries a source coupling (5), by which the tubing (4)can be coupled to a source for said medicament, characterised in that,at least over a part of its length, the tubing comprises alongitudinally extending, external groove (12) and a longitudinallyextending, external protrusion (11) complementary with said groove (12);and that, using the flexibility of its material, the groove (12) isconfigured for being able to receive and secure the protrusion (11) in areleasable manner in a configuration of the tubing (4), in which thetubing (4) is folded (9) for forming parallel courses of tubing (14, 24,34).
 2. A device according claim 1, said external protrusion (11) beingarranged diametrically opposite the groove (12).
 3. A device accordingto claim 1 or, characterised in that the tubing (4) with the groove (12)and the protrusion (11) is manufactured by extrusion of a plasticsmaterial.
 4. A device according to the preceding claim, characterised inthat the protrusion (11) is dovetail-shaped.
 5. A device forsubcutaneous administration of a medicament to a patient, comprising: acannula housing (1) with an interior chamber; a cannula (2) connected tothe cannula housing (1) and being in flow communication with theinterior chamber; a tubing (4) manufactured from a flexible material andhaving a first end (4′) and a second end (4″), wherein the tubing (4)is, at the first end (4′), coupled to the cannula housing (1) in such amanner that the tubing (4) is in flow communication with the interiorchamber; and wherein the tubing (4), at the other end, carries a sourcecoupling (5), by which the tubing (4) can be coupled to a source forsaid medicament, characterised in a holder device (10) for securing thetubing (4) in a configuration in which the tubing (4) is folded forforming at least two parallel courses of tubing (14, 24, 34) with saidfirst end (4′) and said second end (4″) extending therefrom, and saidholder device (10) comprising a plate with at least two parallel grooves(12) configured for being able to receive and secure said courses oftubing (14, 24, 34) in a releasable manner in said configuration of thetubing (4).
 6. A device according to claim 5, wherein the tubing (4) isfolded for forming at least three essentially parallel courses (14, 24,34) of tubing.
 7. An extruded flexible tubing, in particular for use inconnection with a device according to claim 1, wherein the tubing (4)is, at least over a part of its length, provided with a longitudinallyextending, external groove (12) and a longitudinally extended protrusion(11) complementary therewith; and wherein, using the flexibility of thetubing (4), the groove (12) is configured for being able to receive andsecure the protrusion (11) in a releasable manner in a configuration ofthe tubing (4), in which the tubing (4) is folded for forming parallelcourses (14, 24, 34) of tubing.
 8. The device of claim 1 wherein thetubing is folded for forming at least three essentially parallel coursesof tubing.